In Your Dream
by Scifan
Summary: Colonel John Sheppard goes on a mission without Ronon, Teyla and McKay. He goes to a planet with a group of Marines,thinking it will be an easy mission. Things go wrong and Atlantis finds out Sheppard is dead, or is he.


**In Your Dreams**

Written by: L. Davis

Major Lorne and his team are standing by the gate, when Dr. Weir starts talking to them before they leave. "Please use extreme caution. The last time we heard from Colonel Sheppard's team, they reported that they detected some faint energy readings. Now they are several hours over due, and it could be something as simple as interference, but I still want you to be careful." Weir stops Major Lorne before he leaves, "As soon I hear from Ronon and Teyla, I will let them know."

"What about Dr. McKay?" Lorne asks.

"He is working on an important project right now and I need him to concentrate on that. I will tell him when I have more information," replies Weir. She then motions the technician to start up the gate and once it's activated Major Lorne and his team step through.

As Lorne and his team walk through they can see that the gate is resting on a rock foundation, and steps that lead down to a small clearing that is surrounded by a dense forest. Once Lorne and his entire team step through, they notice bodies lying on the ground and on the steps of the gate. Major Lorne rushes to check on Colonel Sheppard as Lorne's team checks on the remaining down soldiers.

"They're all dead!" yells one of the Marines.

Lorne feels Sheppard's faint pulse. "Colonel Sheppard! Sir! Can you hear me? It's Major Lorne!" He turns and looks at one of the officers. "Dial the gate and tell them we have a medical emergency! Colonel Sheppard is barely alive and the rest of the team is dead! Hurry, and tell them we are coming in hot!" he pauses, "I don't want to see what did this."

After the gate was activated Major Lorne and his team grabbed the dead Marines and Colonel Sheppard. Once they knew the shield was down, they go across quickly.

At the same time at Atlantis, the alarms are going off, Weir quickly walks to the control room. "What is going on?" she asks.

"It's Major Lorne's IDC. They're reporting that they are coming in hot and they are saying that it is a medical emergency," the technician reports. Then he pauses as he listens into his headset. He looks at Weir with a shocked look on his face. "Except for Colonel Sheppard, they're all… dead?

She then motions to lower the shields and starts running down the stairs towards the gate to meet them. On her radio she calls Dr. Keller and informs her of the situation.

In a short time, Dr. Keller and her crew show up with a gurney for Sheppard and stretchers with body bags for the others, while the rest of Major Lorne's team finish coming through. All who were there had a look of disbelief and sadness across their faces.

As soon as Dr. Keller's team gets Sheppard on the gurney, they head for the infirmary. Weir is about to follow them towards the infirmary with John, but the gate is activated again. "It's Ronon and Teyla," says the technician.

"Lower the shields!" orders Weir. Once Teyla and Ronon walk through, they look around to see the body bags everywhere and Weir is waiting for them. Teyla and Ronon both have confused looks on their faces.

"Dr. Weir, what has happened?" asks Teyla.

"I'll tell you on the way to the infirmary. John was the only survivor, but he's barely alive." Elizabeth explains, as they rush down the corridor.

"That was John's team?" asks Teyla." Weir responds with a yes.

"Did Sheppard say who did this?" asks Ronon.

Before Elizabeth gets to answer, they arrived at the infirmary. Dr. Keller is just finishing hooking up a monitor to John. Teyla stands right next to John. Ronon is standing behind her, and Elizabeth to the right of him. Rodney rushes in as well and stands next to Elizabeth.

"I just found out. What happened?" asks a winded Rodney. Elizabeth motions Rodney to wait a moment as Dr. Keller looks up to talk to them.

"I don't know what to tell you. It's like his body is just shutting down. I don't know if there is anything I can do for him," Dr. Keller informs them.

They all look at each other with sadden, distraught faces. As this was happening, John's eyes weakly opens halfway and he reaches for Teyla's hand. Teyla quickly turns her head to look at John. He tries to talk, but it was too soft and inaudible. Teyla lowers her ear closer to John's mouth to hear him better. While he talks to her, tears begin to flow down her face. She briefly turns her head to look at Elizabeth, but then John's monitor beeps and goes flat-line. "John! JOHN!" Teyla wails. Ronon pulled Teyla back by her shoulders as Keller prepares to use the deliberator, but it's no use.

"I'm so sorry. There was just nothing I could do," Dr. Keller replies with a sad tone.

They all stand there momentarily in silence. Finally, Elizabeth looks at Teyla and asks, "Did John say who did this?"

Teyla slowly shakes her head no and responds in a choked up voice, " He said….he said." She starts tearing up again and then buries her hands.

Then, Ronon speaks up, "He said that he was sorry that he wouldn't be able to take her on their picnic today." (Ronon's super hearing.) Rodney and Elizabeth looks at each other with a confused looks on their faces and then they return their looks back to Teyla.

**Six hours earlier:**

As McKay walks down the corridor; John briskly walks up to him. "Rodney? Why aren't you ready to go to planet TL671Z? Rodney stops to reply, "Well, last night I thought of a way that might help us to fight better against the Replicators. You know how the Replicator can adapt quickly to the A.R.G.'s. I believe that we can try to program the weapons to change their frequencies after every time the Replicators adjust. Zelenka and I are planning to work on it today." John looks impressed.

"If you can make a weapon that can help us beat the Replicator, well then sure, do it. But when I get back, plan on me beating you in a game of chess," John says teasingly.

Rodney starts walking away from him, "Like that's going to happen. Again."

John starts to turn to go back down the corridor when he spots Ronon and he quickly catches up to him. "Ronon, are you ready to go?"

Ronon hesitates slightly before replying. "Weir just asked me to go with Teyla to the village she was planning to do trades with. I guess there has been some trouble and even though Teyla says she can take care of herself, Weir still wants me to go with her. Just in case."

John at first looks a little frustrated, but then a smirk goes across his face. "You know, that sound more interesting. Maybe I should go with you."

Ronon gets a big smile. "Are you sure that's why you want to go? I think you just want to be with Teyla," Ronon says jokingly.

"What? Um.. No. That's not the reason," John replies, and tries not to show his real feelings.

Ronon just kept on laughing and smiling. "You know, she's waiting for you to make the first move," says Ronon.

John looked a little surprised, "Why? What have you heard? Did she talk to you?"

Ronon, while he was still smiling, shakes his head. "No, she didn't talk to me, but I _hear _things. Trust me."

John finally gets what Ronon was talking about "hearing" and points to his ear. "Oohhh, I got ya." Ronon pats John his shoulder and then walks away, still shaking his head.

John is still in the middle of the corridor, thinking about what Ronon had said, when Teyla notices him.

"John? Are you all right?" asks Teyla.

John quickly turns around to look at her. "Um… Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking."

A slight smile comes on Teyla's face, "I noticed that you were talking to Ronon. Did he happen to mention that Dr. Weir is insisting that he come with me?"

John replies with a reassuring voice, "Yes he has, and… she's right. It's not like this mission is going to be all that exciting. It just has a lot of trees." Teyla giggles and is about to walk away. John motions her to stop for a second. "Um…Teyla? Are you doing anything for lunch tomorrow?"

Teyla replies teasingly, " Do you mean besides eating?"

John replies with a smile, "Yes. I saw a nice place not to far from your people's village. It's a great place for a picnic."

Teyla is surprised, but she tries not to let it show. "You mean, just the two of us?"

John says with a smirk, " I could invite Rodney, but I don't think that we'll have enough food." They both laugh.

"Lunch tomorrow sounds nice." Teyla said with a smile. Then they both walked away looking very happy.

**Present time:**

Weir is walking towards the medical lab. As she walks in she sees Dr. Keller looking in a microscope. Dr. Keller looks up once Weir starts talking to her "Dr. Keller, can you tell me what killed Colonel Sheppard and his team?"

Dr. Keller turn away from the microscope to look at Weir straight on. "Well, I can tell you that Colonel Sheppard's team all died of a brain aneurysm. I can't say what caused it, but I can say for certain that _they_ didn't have a virus."

Weir looks surprised, " Do you mean that John had a virus? He wasn't gone that long."

Keller shakes her, " No, he didn't have a virus that I can tell, but something is just not right. Colonel Sheppard is the only one that had something different. His organs were that of a ninety year old, but the rest of his team didn't have that problem and we checked Major Lorne and his team and they are completely fine."

Weir pauses for a while, trying to figure out what to say next. "We are suppose to have services for Colonel Sheppard and the rest of the Marines tomorrow. Can we do that?"

Keller replies, " I would say yes for the Marines, but as for Colonel Sheppard, I'd like to wait. I think that there is something that is just not right. I can't put my finger on it. If Dr. Becket were here, he would know what to do.

Weir reassures her, " You're doing great and I think he would be proud of you."

Keller gives Weir a slight smile with a look of relief and then continues her explanation. "For some reason his DNA was slightly altered. I'm not sure if it had to do with what ever killed him or if it's something else. Either way I would like to keep him here a little bit longer."

Weir crosses her arms and nods her head. "I'll give you one extra day, but if you can't find anything then we'll have to let him go." Keller gives her an understanding nod and Weir leaves the room.

**Two days later:**

It is the day of Colonel Sheppard's funeral. Everybody is there except for Dr. Keller, who is in the lab, looking frustrated, and Major Lorne, who notices that Dr. Keller is in the lab while he walks by. "Dr. Keller, aren't you going to the funeral service for Colonel Sheppard?"

Keller is again looking into the microscope, "I'll be there shortly". She pauses from her work briefly to look at Lorne. "Don't you ever get the feeling that something is just not right? I'm almost there. I know I am." She goes back to work, "How come your not there?"

Lorne holds out a piece of paper. "Dr. Weir asked me to write something in behalf of the rest of the Marines."

Keller finally discovers something and starts talking to the slide under the microscope, "That's it! You guys are tricky!"

Lorne looks at her with a confused look on his face. "Who… what are you talking about? Who's being tricky?"

Keller looks at Lorne and grabs him by the shoulders. "The Replicators. That's not Colonel Sheppard!"

Lorne is now more confused, "What! We all say him die!"

"You have to stall Dr. Weir, but don't tell her why. We both know that if that Replicator gets through the gate it'll be able to help the rest of the Replicators locate Earth. You need to get one of those gun thingies and come back here. There are nanites in the blood sample I have of Colonel Sheppard, or whom we thought was the Colonel. It must have become active when the Replicator reactivated as well. "

Lorne started to speak, "You mean the Anti…"

Keller interrupts. " Yeah, yeah, just hurry!"

Lorne runs to get to weapon and calls Weir on his comm., "Dr. Weir, I'll be there shortly."

Weir sounding a little agitated, "Major Lorne, what is taking you so long?

"I'm just finishing up here ma'am. It's just… it was just really hard to get all I wanted to say to words," replies Lorne sadly.

Weir pauses and speaks calmly, "All right Major Lorne, you still have some time, but please don't take to much longer."

Lorne rushes to get the A.R.G. weapon. Once Lorne gets the weapon he returns to the lab to destroy the nanites, meets up with Keller and then they both head towards the gate room.

While this is going on, Elizabeth starts the service while she is waiting for Major Lorne. "Today is a sad day for me and the rest of you here. Words can't describe the loss that we are all feeling right now. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard was a man who usually had very few words, but he had a big heart. Countless of times he has helped in protecting and saving Atlantis. He endured many trials, but he never gave up. He would never leave a man behind if he knew he could save them. He was also willing to risk his life to save any one of us and has done so many times. We're going to miss him greatly."

While Elizabeth is speaking, everyone faces are filled with deep sadness. Rodney's eyes are watering up, but he tries not to show it. Ronon stood there in disbelief and his head hanging low. And Teyla, Teyla stood strong as tears streamed down her face.

"STOP! That's not Colonel Sheppard! It's a Replicator!" shouts Keller.

As soon as Keller had said that, a figure starts to phase through the casket and tries to head towards the gate. The shield is immediately raised by someone was in the control room, and Lorne shoots the A.R.G. weapon at the Replicator. At first, it didn't do any damage. The Replicators must have adjusted to the frequency of the guns from a previous encounter. The weapon makes a sound indicating that it had changed its frequency. Lorne fires again and destroys the Replicator. All this happens it a matter of seconds.

Everyone is looking at each other and in total shock, and Rodney briefly praises himself that his idea worked. "It worked! I thought it would, but it _really_ works."

Elizabeth, Teyla, Ronon, Rodney, and Lorne are standing by Keller. Elizabeth still looking surprised asks. "Do you mind trying to explain what just happened here?" Elizabeth asks.

Keller begins to explain that the Replicators must have found a way to try to mimic Sheppard's DNA and somehow the nanites stayed dormant. She almost missed it, but probably when the Replicator woke up it must have activated the nanites in the blood sample. They all look at each other and a wave of relief falls over them.

"If Sheppard isn't dead, then where has he been this whole time?" Ronon asks. Suddenly their relief turns into concern. They all agree to form a team and go back to the planet to look for Sheppard.

**Two days ago: **

Sheppard steps through the gate, and while the rest of the team is still coming through, one of the soldiers says he detects a faint energy reading. "Elizabeth, do you hear that?" asks Sheppard.

Weir replies, "Yes, I did John. Just be careful and report back as soon as you can. Weir out."

Just as John and his team are about to walk away from the gate, they are all blasted by stun guns and knocked out. As John and his team lie there unconscious on the ground, a few Asurans stand over them. Most of the Asurans go up to the Marines; phase their hands threw there heads and kill them. Two other Asurans take John and bring him deeper into the woods. They eventually stop at a small ship and step inside. Once inside they place John in one of two vessels, which are a capsule like shape. Shortly afterwards, there is another John in the once empty vessel. Replicator John gets out of the vessel and approaches the Asurans.

"You know what you need to do. Once they realize that you're not the real Sheppard, it will be too late. You will be on their home planet and we will destroy their home and people, just like they did to us," remarks the leading Asuran. Another Asuran asks the leader if they should kill Sheppard. The leader replies, "No. I think we should let his life pass before him before he dies." The leader smiles, grabs John by his hands and leans him up against a tree. While the leader was dragging John to the trees, he passed some nanites into him. "Sweet Dreams," the leader says deviously.

**John's dream:**

John and his team has just got back from their mission. Weir is in there in the gate room waiting to greet them. " Any luck on finding what that energy reading was?" asks Weir.

"No, whatever made it either left or died out. There were just trees, trees and oh, did I mention that there were trees?" grumbles John.

"Ok. Ok. I got it," replies Weir with a smirk.

John starts going up the stairs and then radios Rodney to get ready to be beaten in chess. Elizabeth laughs when she hears him teasing Rodney.

The next day, John and Teyla are having a picnic lunch, by a nice grassy area, with a clean, clear pond and a nice sunny, clear sky. John and Teyla are enjoying their meal. They eat, talk and laugh. At one point they both go to reach for the same thing and they end up touching hands. At first they pull away, but by the end of the day they were holding hands, still laughing and talking.

During the next several months, John and Teyla started growing closer. They would have lunch together in the mess hall. After they were done practicing, they would lean into each other and kiss passionately. She would teach him some of her culture and he would show her some of his. As each month passed by their bond grew stronger.

One day, John and Teyla are sitting on one of the pier on Atlantis. They are watching the sunset. John has his arms around Teyla and she is nestled into him. John takes one of Teyla's hand, "We're good, aren't we? I mean, you've been happy right?" asks a nervous John.

Teyla asks with a curious look on her face and one eyebrow up. "Yeess. Why?"

John slowly pulls out a simple, but beautiful ring and turns to Teyla. "You know that I'm not good at saying how I feel, but you've made me feel…. happy and I hope you know that this is really hard for me to get this out right." John places the ring on Teyla's ring finger. "Will you marry me?" asks John with a smile.

Teyla quietly says yes and gives him a big hug and a kiss. "John? What is the ring for?" Teyla curiously asks.

John replies with a smile, "It means that you said yes." Then they kiss again.

Many months later, John and Teyla are back to the same beautiful, grassy spot where they had their first picnic. They both wait anxiously for their wedding to begin. Many members from Atlantis and the Athosians are there to witness this event. John is dressed in his dress blues and Teyla is wearing a beautiful Athosian wedding dress. It is a very light cream color, sleeveless dress with beautiful embroidery throughout, and her hair is up with a few wildflowers. They can't keep their eyes off each other as they say their vows, holding hands, and when they kiss everybody cheers. The celebration continues all day and night after the ceremony with a lot of laughing, dancing, etc.

About a year or so goes by, then one day, Teyla and John are sitting out on one of the areas of Atlantis. They are looking over the water and city. Teyla leans over and whispers in his ear. A big smile comes over his face. He cups his hands around her face, kisses her and then he kisses her belly.

During the latter part of Teyla's pregnancy, John and Teyla decide to move to the Anthosian village. They both want their child to be brought up in a place where other child are, and a place where they can play. Teyla temporarily stops going on missions with John and John goes back and forth to Atlantis. When he is home, he keeps the puddle jumper close by in case he has to rush to Atlantis.

One day, John is about to leave to go to Atlantis when she stops John. "John. Could you please do me a favor? Could you please ask Dr. Keller stop for a visit today? Teyla asks with a calm look.

"Wasn't she here yesterday? Is everything ok?" John asks with a worry look and tone.

"I am fine and so is the baby, but she needs to know that it is time," as she says with a smile. She looks at John and waits for him to figure it out.

All of the sudden it dawns on him. "Oh, it _time_!" he says nervously. "Ok. I'll go get her, I'll go get her right now." He is about to leave then he comes back. "Are you going to be ok?"

Teyla laughs, "Yes, I am fine. Now go."

When John finally arrives with Dr. Keller, Teyla is already in bed and an Athosian woman is with her. John goes to be with her by her side and holds her hand. Finally, after many hours, Keller announces that they have a boy. While Keller cleans and wraps the baby, John tenderly kisses a tired Teyla on her forehead.

"Do you have a name for him?" asks Keller.

John replies, "Yes we do. It's Jason Tagan Sheppard." He turns back to smile at Teyla as Keller hands them the baby and then they stop to admire their new son.

John loved being a father. He would throw Jason in the air, chase him around, wrestle, and try to teach him football and many other father and son things.

**Four years later:**

John is standing not to far from his home when Jason runs up to him. "Father, mother says that you need to get Dr. Keller. The baby is coming," says an excited Jason.

It's not long before John and Keller arrive, but during the delivery John gets a call over the radio from Atlantis. "Colonel Sheppard, this is Atlantis, please come in," calls a technician.

John steps out of the room. "This is Sheppard. Go ahead Atlantis and this better be good. I'm in the middle of something _very_ important," replies an agitated John.

"Sorry sir, but it has to do with Dr. Weir," responds the technician.

"Oh good, does that mean she's back from Earth?" says John.

"No sir, it's bad news. We just got word from SGC that she had been in an accident. She was on route from her home to SGC….."

"Is she ok?" interrupts a concern John.

"Sorry sir, she didn't make it," the technician reports sadly.

John walks back into the room looking dazed. Teyla and Keller are announcing that it's a girl several times, but he has tuned them out. He finally hears Teyla and turns to look at her.

"John? What is wrong? Is there something wrong with Jason?" asks a worry Teyla.

"It was Atlantis. Um… Elizabeth was in a car accident on her way to SGC. She didn't make it." John looks at the stunned faces on Teyla and Keller.

Teyla motioned him to sit next to her and their baby girl. She then asks John if they could honor Elizabeth's memory by naming their daughter after her. He agrees. So they named they daughter Elizabeth Charin Sheppard.

During the time John's children were growing up, John would spend time playing with them, and as they grew older, Teyla and Ronon would teach them some fighting skills.

Jason later becomes an Air Force officer and is now stationed at Atlantis; he is about 29 years old.

Elizabeth, or Liz as most of them call her, is now 25 years old, and while she is also in Atlantis, she is studying science with McKay, who is now balding and heavier.

One day Jason radios John, " Dad, we need you and mom to come to Atlantis. Long range censors are detecting what we believe to be Replicator ships and they are coming in fast."

Teyla also hears the call and John responds back, "Your mom and I will be right there."

"Why now? We haven't had any problem for all these years," asks a puzzled Teyla.

John agrees with her and is now very suspicious. "Yea, why now?"

**Real world:**

Meanwhile, Ronon, Rodney, Teyla, Keller and her team are in haz-mat suits and looking for John. They finally find him still leaning against the tree where the Asuran leader had left him. Ronon, Teyla and Rodney watch anxiously as Keller's team examines him.

"He's still alive!" shouts Keller to Teyla, Ronon and Rodney. " Let's get him back to Atlantis and get rid of those nanites before it's too late."

Keller's team then get Sheppard on a gurney and start towards the gate. Ronon runs ahead of them to dial the gate.

**John's dream:**

Teyla and John are in the gate room in Atlantis when the Replicators attack and rumble begins falling everywhere. John looks up and sees Jason and Liz, who were on the upper area; fall over the balcony and to their death. "Jason! Liz!" He turns to look for Teyla and then he sees her pinned under a large piece of debris. He runs to her to try to help her, but her can't move it. He holds her hand and she tells him that she loves him, and then she slips away. "Teyla! No!" wails John. He begins brushing her lifeless face with his hand as he tearfully mourns for the loss of his family. But then he begins to hear Teyla's voice from a different direction. He gets up and starts to look around while the chaos is still going on.

"Colonel Sheppard, John! You have to fight it! It's the nanites, it's not real!" shouts Teyla.

A much younger Teyla starts to walk up to John and reaches out her hand. He takes her hand and slowly wakes up. He sees that he in a quarantine room. Teyla is standing next to him, John then takes her hand, says thank you and closes his eyes again. Teyla is quickly pulled aside and Ronon, Rodney and Elizabeth all look worried.

"He's ok," says Keller. She takes some readings. "He free of all of the nanites." Keller then takes Teyla and checks her for nanites. They are all relieved and they begin to leave to let him rest.

**Two days later:**

John wakes up and finds himself in the infirmary. Ronon, Elizabeth and Rodney are there smiling and happy to see him. "What's going on? What happened?" asks John.

It's a long story, but let's just say that a Replicator sent a copy of you and we thought you had died. We even had a funeral service for you," replies Elizabeth.

"How long was I gone?" asks John.

Ronon speaks up, "You were out there for about three days and you've been in here for two."

John is shocked; "I was only out there for three days? It felt like a lifetime. I was married, two wonderful, grown kids." He points to Elizabeth, "You died in a car accident on Earth." He then points to Ronon, "You finally got a family of your own and Rodney…." John looks at Rodney, "Well he just got fat, bald and more irritating." Ronon and Elizabeth start giggling and Rodney looks insulted. "Where's Teyla?"

"She's been here almost the whole time. We finally convince her to go get something to eat," replies Elizabeth. Ronon gives John a teasing look.

"She did? Really?" John says with an impressed tone.

"Wait a minute! Did you say that you were married? Who was she? Do we know who she is?" a curious Rodney asks.

"Yes John. Who is it?" asks Elizabeth. They all look at him waiting for an answer with grins on their faces.

"Ok. Ok, that's enough. It's something I don't want to talk about or remember, so please don't mention this to any this to _anyone_. All right?" John sees Teyla and they both smile at each other. "Teyla! Good timing," says a relieved John.

Teyla looks confused, but still has a grin on her face. "Did I miss something?"

John shakes his head no and then at the rest of them. "Did you say you had a funeral for me?"

Ronon nudges Rodney and smiles. "Yeah, and McKay cried too."

"I _did _not. I had something in my eyes," whines Rodney.

Everyone, except for Rodney starts laughing. "That's ok. Thanks any way guys," replies John.

Dr. Keller just then starts to walk in. "Ok, everybody. My patient needs some rest. You can come back to see him later."

Everyone turns to get ready to leave. Ronon looks back towards Teyla and then to John with a big teasing grin on his face. John then gives Ronon a look back as if to say, "Don't even go there." Teyla is about to go, but John stops her. "Teyla, you just got here. Stay, it's ok," insists John.

She pulls up a chair next to his bed. " Are you feeling better?"

John sits himself more in the bed. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have to get readjusted to being here again." Teyla looks confused. "Never mind."

Teyla then smiles and raises her eyebrow, "You know we haven't had that picnic yet."

John looks at her with a smile and acts a little hesitant because of all he went through. "How about later. Once I start to feel better." John then yawns.

Teyla gets up and gets ready to leave, " I should really should go now and let you rest, but I do look forward to our picnic together."

John watches her as she walks away until he can't see her any more. "Me, too."

The End 


End file.
